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DESTINATIONS
Algonquin Provincial Park
History
By Michael and Alison Goldstein
The region of what is now Algonquin Park was discovered by loggers in the mid-1800's. They pushed west, from the Ottawa Valley, in search of the great white pine trees, in heavy demand by an expanding British economy.By 1893, the year the Park was created, most of Algonquin's white pine had been cut out. Slash fires had ravaged huge areas. The Park was created, not to ensure a primitive environment, but as a wildlife sanctuary. As well, it was desirable to preserve the headwaters of the five major rivers that flow into the Park.
The "Track & Tower" hiking trail follows part of the rail line of the Ottawa, Arnprior, and Parry Sound Railroad, which was completed by the timber baron, J. R. Booth, in 1896. His trains carried grain and lumber, and troops during World War I. Trains sometimes passed by every twenty minutes, making this railway at one time the busiest in the country. The railway was the only significant means of tourist access to Algonquin Park for over forty years. Lodges, camps and cottages sprang up along its route. The last train chugged out of the Park in 1959.
The wealth generated from Algonquin's forest industry is still the backbone of the Park region's economy. The mandate of Algonquin Park is that, while both logging and recreation will continue, the 'feel' of wilderness should not be destroyed.Algonquin Park is now famous internationally. Letters of enquiry arrive monthly from all over the world. Algonquin has inspired more than 55 books, and there is even an Algonquin symphony. Algonquin Park is presently the most important area in Canada for biological research, over 1800 scientific papers having been based on work done in this area.
The Group of Seven, famous Canadian artists, did much of their work in Algonquin Park. Perhaps the best-known of the Algonquin Park painters was Tom Thompson (1877-1917), a colleague and inspiration for the Group of Seven. He drowned in Canoe Lake under mysterious circumstances, while on a sketching trip. He is buried in Owen Sound, Ontario.
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